In 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration released a groundbreaking report that revealed the true causes of large truck accidents. Titled “The Large Truck Causation Study,” it’s the first to examine all accident causes that contribute to commercial truck crashes. Researchers looked at a nationwide sample of 967 crashes. In these truck accidents, at least one truck was involved. They included 1,127 large trucks and 959 other types of motor vehicles. Deaths totaled 251 and injuries 1,408. Below are the top 10 causes of large-truck accidents studied.
- Surprisingly, driver fatigue was less common than expected. Instead, drug use was the most common cause of accidents. In 26% of the crashes, prescription drugs or illicit drugs affected the truck driver’s reaction time.
- Speeding was also a common cause of large-truck crashes, accounting for 23% of accidents. The force of impact from an 80,000-pound truck is made deadlier with each mile per hour of increased speed.
- Many truck drivers are unfamiliar with the areas they travel. For this reason, it is not surprising that 22% of the accidents involved a driver unfamiliar with the roads he or she was traveling on.
- Prescription and illicit drugs are not the only drug-related problems for trucking accidents. In 18% of the crashes, over-the-counter medications contributed to the accident.
- Truck drivers are trained to check blind spots and carefully check all sides of the vehicle before making turns or other maneuvers. Still, many forget their training. In 14% of accidents, at least one cause was the driver’s failure to properly check blind spots.
- What was once assumed to be the most common cause of large truck accidents, driver fatigue, was present in 13% of the accidents studied. While not as common as expected, driver fatigue still happens often and causes many accidents.
- Drivers often forget simple safety measures such as using a signal before turning. In 9% of the accidents studied, the driver engaged in an illegal maneuver, such as failing to use a turn signal.
- Distracted driving can also be a problem for truck drivers. In the study, 8% of crashes involved drivers whose attention was diverted from the road by events outside the truck. Common distractions include roadwork or accidents.
- Although drivers often try to evade crashes, big rigs are difficult to maneuver. Drivers who underestimated the level of evasive action required accounted for 7% of accidents.
- Road rage is not a problem limited to car drivers. Aggressive driving accounted for 7% of accidents in the study. Because of the size and bulk of large trucks, drivers who take part in such behavior cause deadly crashes.
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http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/facts-research/research-technology/analysis/fmcsa-rra-07-017.htm
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